There was an 11” air with an i5/i7 - i splurged for 16gb of ram when i bought it in 2015 and it lasted me 10 years.
It still works, but a few specific apps started to really drag on it.
It still works, but a few specific apps started to really drag on it.
Conversely if you bought an i7 macbook in 2019 it would have felt out of date in just 2-4 years, when everyone has an m1 or better and things are starting to slow down from OS changes that expect apple silicon.
If you bought an m1 just a year later in 2020, i’d guess you’re feeling fine 6 years on.
I didn't wait years to buy the max spec model of a previous generation or something.
I'm well aware CPUs got better and whatever arguments people want to make.
None of this changes the fact that the initial 11" MBA was borderline obsolete from launch.